More and more American Indian and Alaska Native students are graduating from high school but they are still falling behind their peers, according to data released by the Education Department today.

During the 2012-2013 school year, 69.7 percent of Indian students finished high school. The rate marked an improvement from the two years prior.

Despite the gains, Indian students had the lower graduation rate of all other ethnic and racial groups. The rates among Asian/Pacific Islander (88.7) and White (86.6) students were significantly higher while the rate among Hispanic students (75.2) was noticeably higher as well.